Office of the Presidenthttp://www.washington.edu/president
University of WashingtonWed, 21 Nov 2018 22:47:07 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.3.16Giving thanks, and hoping for a bright futurehttp://www.washington.edu/president/2018/11/21/giving-thanks-and-hoping-for-a-bright-future/
http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/11/21/giving-thanks-and-hoping-for-a-bright-future/#commentsWed, 21 Nov 2018 21:17:30 +0000http://www.washington.edu/president/?p=4964In this season of thanks, throughout our nation, and here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s worth remembering that we live in a landscape and time of contradictions. We are surrounded by the natural beauty of mountains, waters and forests and we are home to a culture of innovation creating prosperity and incredible advances in science, technology, medicine, music and art. We have much to be grateful for.

Yet, we cannot and should not forget these lands were wrested from the Coast Salish peoples, and our region’s vibrancy and growth has also spawned jarring displacement and inequality. There is lava beneath the snowcapped mountains, fault lines beneath our oceans, and just south of us, the forests are on fire and thousands have lost their homes.

My hope is that together we create a tide that lifts boats large and small, that will increase health and well-being for all, and that reduces inequities. My hope is that, at a time of national polarization and divisiveness, we will work harder to build bridges, to lift each other up, to work for justice, champion empathy, ensure access to educational opportunity, and to be good environmental stewards. These are precarious times, but there is also much good fortune – let’s work together to share it.

]]>http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/11/21/giving-thanks-and-hoping-for-a-bright-future/feed/0Team of rivals – working with WSU for Washington studentshttp://www.washington.edu/president/2018/11/19/uw-wsu-possible/
http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/11/19/uw-wsu-possible/#commentsTue, 20 Nov 2018 00:14:04 +0000http://www.washington.edu/president/?p=4954This week, as we gear up for an epic contest on the football field, the University of Washington and Washington State University are joining forces in support of something even more important than the outcome of the Apple Cup: ensuring students and their families in the state of Washington know that earning a four-year degree is possible. As our state’s two public research universities, it’s our shared responsibility to dispel the myths and misperceptions about college affordability and the value of a college degree on the job market.

Research shows that many students and their families think a college degree is financially out of reach. But national headlines about rising tuition, student debt and default rates obscure an important truth here in Washington. Nearly half of bachelor’s degree earners in Washington – and 60 percent at the UW – leave with no debt at all. And of those students who do take on loans for their undergraduate education, the average in our state is less than $24,000 for all four years. Indeed, Washington ranks second in the nation in the amount of financial aid it provides to undergraduates to pay for college, and through the Husky Promise, the UW ensures that the cost of tuition is not a barrier for low-income students.

The data showing the value of a college degree are just as clear. Regardless of background or family wealth, college graduates earn more and are more likely to have productive careers and healthier, more rewarding lives. College truly does create a leveling effect and it’s one of our most powerful tools for increasing equity, diversity and inclusion. But it starts with students and families across Washington having accurate information about the availability and affordability of our public colleges and universities.

This Friday, I’ll be rooting loud and proud for the Huskies from the first whistle to the last. But I’ll also be arm-in-arm with our friends and colleagues from WSU and all of our state’s public universities and community and technical colleges to ensure that Washington’s students can see that their path to higher education really is possible. They just have to take the first step.

]]>http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/11/19/uw-wsu-possible/feed/0International education benefits us allhttp://www.washington.edu/president/2018/11/13/international-education-week/
http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/11/13/international-education-week/#commentsTue, 13 Nov 2018 20:04:27 +0000http://www.washington.edu/president/?p=4948The world we live and work in – and in which our graduates will seek jobs and opportunities – is globally connected and culturally dynamic. Here at the University of Washington, International Education Week is an occasion to reflect on how important and valuable international education is to our students’ success and our impact as a global research university. From opportunities for our U.S. students to study abroad to welcoming students, scholars, faculty and partners from all over the world, international education benefits all of us.

Each year, more than 2,300 UW students spend at least part of the academic year studying abroad. Their experiences and academic programs are as diverse as their destinations, with more than 500 programs in 75 countries from which to choose. They include programs like the Exploration Seminar on Health in the Context of Culture, offered through our UW School of Nursing, which took pre-med student Kenia Diaz to India to shadow nurses in urban and rural areas. Meanwhile, Ashley Richards, who is studying sustainable urban development at UW Tacoma, traveled to South Africa to learn about educational and racial disparities. The knowledge and experiences they returned with will help inform the impact they make on the world.

The UW also has a large and varied array of international partnerships that benefit our research mission across virtually every discipline. They include the groundbreaking Global Innovation Exchange, as well as more recent collaborations like our partnership with Tohoku University in Japan to foster science and engineering research and development. Imagine the potential good that our two Pacific Rim universities could generate working together to prepare for a major earthquake or to advance clean energy technology.

Our world – particularly here in the Pacific Northwest – is deeply connected to other nations and cultures. We are a nation of people with roots that span the globe who transcend borders in countless ways. This week, I hope you will take a moment to learn about the many ways in which we are globally connected and to consider what opportunities you might explore to build on those connections.

]]>http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/11/13/international-education-week/feed/0Supporting and celebrating our first-generation college studentshttp://www.washington.edu/president/2018/11/08/first-generational-college-students-celebration/
http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/11/08/first-generational-college-students-celebration/#commentsThu, 08 Nov 2018 17:05:29 +0000http://www.washington.edu/president/?p=4942For students who become the first in their family to earn a college degree, the impact of that achievement can be transformative, for themselves and for their families. And the impact can be felt for generations. The power of college to increase equity is what makes the UW so pleased to once again be participating in the National First Generation College Celebration.

We are proud that more than a third of UW’s undergraduates are the first in your families to seek a four-year degree. And we recognize there can be real challenges when you venture into uncharted waters, challenges that are amplified for students with financial need. If you need support, we are here on all three campuses with resources and encouragement. Our goal is to help you reach the finish line.

To our many faculty, staff and alumni who are, themselves, first-generation college graduates, this annual event is also an opportunity to celebrate your achievements. It’s a moment for you to demonstrate, through your example, what is possible through higher education. I hope faculty and staff with their own powerful story will pick up an “I Am First-Generation” button today and share your experience through social media with #CelebrateFirstGen.

]]>http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/11/08/first-generational-college-students-celebration/feed/0Join in honoring the UW’s veteranshttp://www.washington.edu/president/2018/11/06/veterans-day-2018/
http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/11/06/veterans-day-2018/#commentsWed, 07 Nov 2018 01:48:31 +0000http://www.washington.edu/president/?p=4935At the University of Washington, Veterans Appreciation is a special time in which we pause to acknowledge the courage and sacrifice of our veterans and all who have served, both in our community and across our nation. This is a chance to honor our veterans, but also a moment to reflect on how we can support them throughout the year, as alumni, colleagues, classmates, friends and neighbors. To recognize their service, I invite you to take part in the Veterans Appreciation events, taking place through Nov. 11, across our three campuses.

These events include the annual Veterans Day Ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 11, where the UW will honor the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Veteran Award recipient, Priscilla “Patti” Taylor, ’93, ’96. Taylor demonstrated an outstanding commitment to service as an Army medic and nurse, and her contributions have continued even after she retired from the military through her volunteer work with Operation Mend, a program that provides free care to wounded service members.

For the people in our community who have served, along with their families and loved ones, there can be unique challenges to becoming part of an academic community like the UW. Our task as a community is to ensure that everyone not only knows they are welcome, but has the resources, tools and opportunities to explore their passions and achieve their potential. The outstanding work of our Student Veteran Life office and the many programs across our three campuses that support our student veterans and active-duty service members and their families, help make that possible.

Our community proudly recognizes the veterans and service members who are part of our Husky family. We thank you for your service and we commit to making your Husky Experience the best it can be.

]]>http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/11/06/veterans-day-2018/feed/0Through Be the Match, your impact could be life-savinghttp://www.washington.edu/president/2018/10/31/be-the-match/
http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/10/31/be-the-match/#commentsWed, 31 Oct 2018 23:12:41 +0000http://www.washington.edu/president/?p=4897We often talk about our work at the University of Washington in terms of impact – and our impact truly is felt across our state and the world. But each of us also has the opportunity to make an impact in profound and personal ways. One way that you can make an impact with the potential to actually save a life is by learning about Be the Match, an organization that manages the world’s largest marrow registry.

UW Medicine, working with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is doing cutting-edge work in marrow transplants, making us a natural partner in the effort to increase access to this life-saving procedure. And marrow transplants really do save lives. Just ask Alexes Harris, a professor of sociology at the UW, whose inspiring story of recovery from a rare blood cancer helped catalyze the UW’s involvement in this worthy cause. On November 5, the UW will launch a first-of-its-kind partnership with Be the Match, including a documentary screening and a panel event featuring Provost Mark Richards.

Increasing the number of marrow donors is especially critical for people of color whose lives can depend on finding a match. People of color, and those of mixed-race ancestry, are underrepresented in the registry, so finding a match is difficult. With this partnership, we hope to raise awareness about the need for registered donors. If you want to learn more about how to register, it just takes a few minutes to sign up to receive a testing kit.

Each of us has the power to make a difference. Together, that difference can change the world by making health care more equitable and saving lives.

]]>http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/10/31/be-the-match/feed/0In the face of tragedy, what can we do?http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/10/29/in-the-face-of-tragedy-what-can-we-do/
http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/10/29/in-the-face-of-tragedy-what-can-we-do/#commentsMon, 29 Oct 2018 22:20:39 +0000http://www.washington.edu/president/?p=4925“For your benefit, learn from our tragedy. It is not a written law that the next victims must be Jews. It can also be other people. We saw it begin in Germany with Jews, but people from more than 20 other nations were also murdered. When I started this work, I said to myself, ‘I will look for the murderers of all the victims, not only the Jewish victims. I will fight for justice.’”— Simon Wiesenthal

It is with great sadness that I write to our community to express my deepest condolences to all who have been affected by the truly horrific events of this past week, and especially the shootings at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, where people were gunned down on the Sabbath while practicing their faith. My heart goes out to the family and friends of the victims — who have a long, difficult journey ahead of them as they come to terms with their loss — and to the larger Jewish community on our campuses and beyond. I know this crime, and the recent dramatic rise in anti-Semitic acts, causes many to wonder if a history of persecution is tragically repeating itself.

Support and resources

SafeCampus
Service to connect anyone with concerns about safety with the right resources

UW Counseling Center
Multiple options for students seeking help coping with stress and mental health concerns

This attack comes on the heels of the pipe bombs sent to politicians and journalists around the country and an apparently hate-motivated shooting in Kentucky that had the potential to echo the attack on the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. And it takes place at a time when several arrests were finally made related to the white supremacist rally and violence in Charlottesville; when there are repeated incidents of people of color having the police called on them for everything from resting in a lounge to knocking on doors while running for office; and when the federal government is considering rolling back protections for transgender individuals despite the ongoing harassment they face. We must question the relationships between these and other such events, the growing division in our country and the hateful rhetoric that is becoming all too common in public discourse, laying the foundation for the increase in hate crimes in our communities and in our nation. And we must ask ourselves what we can and must do about it.

First, we must realize that together, we can lift our voices. In the face of a national narrative — including divisive rhetoric in the public discourse mainstreaming and amplifying hateful ideas that had been pushed to the fringes — we must unite our voices against hate, violence and discrimination.

Second, we must realize that we are each stronger than we think — and we are much stronger when we are united. We need to collectively commit to do all we can to rally around our common humanity, shunning messages of bias and prejudice that encourage fear and hate in order to divide us.

There is a range of actions that can be taken, including political ones — and I encourage everyone who can do so to exercise their right to vote for their preferred candidates. This right, fundamental to our democracy, was hard-won for many in our nation and remains the dream of many more around the world.

We can also come together through other forms of action, following the example of the Muslim nonprofits that have raised tens of thousands of dollars for the victims at Tree of Life. We can unite through campus activities that bring people together for actual conversations, countering the “othering” that is increasingly used to delegitimize not just ideas but entire communities. We can unite by seeking justice and equity for those in our society who still, today, are marginalized, whether because of the color of their skin, what they believe, who they love, their gender identity or where they’re from. We can unite by seeking understanding — listening to reasoned and critical points of view and engaging in civic debate.

When hate is the motivation, the impact of violent crimes is magnified, and research clearly demonstrates that the effects are more profound and destructive. Hate crimes send fear through entire communities, delivering a message that the community members are neither safe nor welcome. So it is especially critical that we unite through individual acts and words of kindness toward those who have been most affected by hateful rhetoric and overt violence. This makes our whole world a kinder, more welcoming place for those facing hardships of all sorts.

I still believe that as a country we’ve made progress, but it’s also clear that our progress may be more fragile than we thought, and that if we are not vigilant, backsliding can and does occur. This is a fraught time in our history, and I wish I could tell you I had the answer or a clear path forward; I do not. But united, we can, we must, create that path.

]]>http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/10/29/in-the-face-of-tragedy-what-can-we-do/feed/0The UW’s commitment to our trans and gender nonconforming community members will not changehttp://www.washington.edu/president/2018/10/29/trans-protections-will-not-change/
http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/10/29/trans-protections-will-not-change/#commentsMon, 29 Oct 2018 16:53:15 +0000http://www.washington.edu/president/?p=4902At the University of Washington, we are committed to making our campuses and communities a welcoming environment for ALL of our community members, including our transgender and gender nonconforming students and employees. News reports about a federal Department of Health and Human Services memo suggest that there may be an attempt underway to withdraw protections for transgender and gender nonconforming people under Title IX. This would be a grave injustice.

Support and resources

Q Center
Professionally-supported resource, advocacy and mentoring center for queer students and concerns at the UW

SafeCampus
Service to connect anyone with concerns about safety with the right resources

UW Counseling Center
Multiple options for students seeking help coping with stress and mental health concerns

We are closely monitoring the situation, but I want to be clear: the reported changes in Title IX federal policy will in no way affect UW policies or practices supporting our transgender and gender nonconforming community members.

We can and will continue to implement our policies on preferred names and make gender inclusive restrooms available. We can and will continue to address discrimination or harassment against transgender and gender nonconforming students under our own conduct code as well as our nondiscrimination code.

Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is unwavering. I recognize that, regardless of our commitment to fair and humane policies, this is still a profoundly difficult and unsettling time for our trans and gender nonconforming friends, colleagues and students. If you need support, please ask for it – your community is here for you and you can find counseling and support resources in the sidebar.

Today I had the pleasure of addressing our University community from wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ — Intellectual House about the incredible value that the University of Washington delivers to the people of our state. As the University FOR Washington, the time is now for public reinvestment in our great public university that serves all of Washington, before the impact it creates begins to erode. Thank you to all who attended or watched via livestream and for your continued engagement with the UW. The full text of the address is available here and you can find the slides that accompanied the address here in PDF format and here as downloadable PowerPoint slides with notes.

]]>http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/10/16/2018-annual-presidents-address/feed/0Mourning the loss of Paul G. Allen, a true innovator and friend of the UWhttp://www.washington.edu/president/2018/10/15/in-memoriam-paul-g-allen/
http://www.washington.edu/president/2018/10/15/in-memoriam-paul-g-allen/#commentsMon, 15 Oct 2018 22:53:26 +0000http://www.washington.edu/president/?p=4836Today we mourn the loss of Paul G. Allen, a man of extraordinary vision, leadership and generosity whose impact on our world is profound. Paul was a true innovator — co-founding Microsoft and launching the revolution that put a computer on every desktop — and what many would call a Renaissance man. The breadth of his curiosity was a hallmark of his life, whether it was delving into the mysteries of the brain, exploring the promise of artificial intelligence, working to protect endangered species, rocking out on the electric guitar or cheering on his beloved Seahawks.

With Paul at the naming of the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering

At the UW, Paul expressed his wide-ranging passions through his philanthropy. Just last year, the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering was established, continuing a relationship dating back to when a young Paul and Bill Gates would sneak into UW labs to borrow computing time. At the ceremony, Paul clearly enjoyed reading to the assembled crowd the letter he received so many years ago kicking him out of the lab after he borrowed a little too much time. But his true joy came in helping advance innovators and innovation. Through his support for the Allen School, as well as for scholarships and research in dozens of schools and departments across the UW, Paul’s legacy will continue to grow. Indeed, he is one of only a handful to reach Regental Laureate status, the highest honor we can bestow on a supporter.

Paul’s father, Kenneth, served as associate director of libraries for 22 years, and it is in his honor that the Allen Library is named. Meanwhile, Paul’s mother, a public school teacher, is the namesake of the Faye G. Allen Center for the Visual Arts, which expanded the Henry Art Gallery. Paul also advanced the work of UW Medicine — the Allen Discovery Center is named for him and he supported medical research in fields ranging from global health to genome sciences. And Paul’s support for KEXP, MoPOP, the Upstream Music Fest and so many other non-profits and causes is a testament to his passion for sharing music and the arts with the community.

Paul defined himself as a seeker of the next Big Idea, and one can only wonder what big ideas he would have brought to fruition if given more time. He understood the power of the arts and sports to heal, renew and build community and it’s hard to imagine our world or our city without him — he was truly Seattle’s “12th Man.” But I’m grateful for what he created during his 65 years, and for the legacy that those of us inspired by his drive and generosity will continue to build upon. Our condolences go out to his family and loved ones.